Laterally flexible stay



y 6 B. LIEBOVIITZ LATERALLY FLEXIBLE STAY Filed July 6, 1966 INVENTOR 6a 111; 1. MW 0' 4 FIG] ATTORNEY United States Patent ()1 fice 3,394,410 Patented July 30, 1968 3,394,410 LATERALLY FLEXIBLE STAY Benjamin Liebowitz, Lewisboro, N.Y. Filed July 6, 1966, Ser. No. 563,252 8 Claims. (Cl. 2260.1)

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A stay which comprises an elongated stay body of plastic, preferably flexible, material having a generally rectangular cross-section, and a crimped reinforcing member of substantially rectangular cross-section embedded in and extending in the direction of elongation of the elongated stay body, the major dimensions of the cross-sections of the stay body and the embedded reinforcing member being equal, respectively, to several times the minor dimensions thereof, and the major dimensions of the cross-sections of the stay body and the embedded reinforcing body being perpendicular relative to each other, the embedded reinforcing member being crimped in a direction transverse to the major dimension of the stay body.

The present invention relates to laterally flexible stays and, more particularly, the present invention is concerned with the type of stay which is used as -a stiffening device in certain types of foundation garments and the like.

It is frequently desirable, or even necessary, in foundation garments to have a stiffening device or stay incorporated therein which is capable of conforming to lateral curvature so as to follow the contours of the body of the wearer and which at the same time will offer the required amount of flexural stiffness toward and away from the wearer.

The most widely adopted solution to the problem of providing such stays is known as spirals and consists of metal wires wound in a particular way. This construction is relatively heavy and expensive and frequently not comfortable for the wearer.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a stay for foundation garments and the like which will not be subject to the above discussed disadvantages.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a stay which will allow lateral flexure and which at the same time will afford the required flexural stiffness toward and away from the body of the wearer of the garment in which the stay is incorporated.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a further reading of the description and of the appended claims.

Wtih the above and other objects in view, the present invention contemplates a stay, comprising, in combination, an elongated body of flexible material, and an elongated, fiat, strip-shaped reinforcing member extending in the direction of elongation of the elongated body and having a pair of opposite main faces, the strip-shaped reinforcing member being crimped in a direction transverse to the main faces thereof.

In principle, the desired properties of the stay of the present invention could be obtained by using a ribbon of suitable material such as spring steel, which ribbon could be about 0.010 inch thick and about 0.045 inch wide, but fixed in the garment in such a manner that the wider dimension of the strip is arranged perpendicular to the body of the wearer of the garment. Calculations made according to the common theory of flexure show that a single flat ribbon of this type would provide the desired elastic properties discussed above. However, it is obviously not practical to use such single metallic ribbon structure oriented in the garment as described above, namely so that the wide dimension of the spring steel ribbon extends perpendicular to the body of the wearer.

I have now found that the above discussed desired properties will be retained by such a ribbon if it is crimped with a direction of crimping parallel to the body of the wearer. Such a structure would have a certain degree of stability which the single ribbon arranged perpendicular to the body would not have. In order to confer additional stability to the crimped wire, I propose to encase it in a plastic strip of appropriate hardness, for instance a strip of vinyl plastic obtained by polymerization of vinyl plastisol. Experimentally this structure has been found to have the desired stiffness toward and away from the body, the required lateral flexibility, and comfort.

The above described composite structure, comprising a crimped metal ribbon embedded in a plastic material such as a strip of polyvinyl chloride, may be produced in the form of a continuous plastic strip from which the stays of the required length may be cut off. In cutting through the embedded crimped metal ribbon which, for instance, may be a steel ribbon, or -a ribbon formed of music wire metal, a burr is likely to be formed at each end of the cut of the stay. However, it is possible to conduct the polymerization of the vinyl plastisol in such a manner as to leave the core portion of the plastic strip which surrounds the crimped wire somewhat softer than the exterior portion of the plastic ribbon strip. By properly arranging the cutting off process, the plastic ribbon may then be squeezed so as to cause it to lengthen and thereby to submerge each burred end of the metal strip in the plastic ribbon.

An alternate procedure would consist in dipping the ends of the cut stays in suitable acid so as to etch away the burr at each end. In addition, if the type of alloy used for music wires is used for forming the crimped metal strip, rusting at the ends may be prevented by conventional copper plating carried out by dipping of the stay end portions into an appropriate conventional copper solution.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the above described spiral stay of the prior art;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the composite stay according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken along line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view taken along lines 44 of FIG. 3; and

FIGS: 5-8 are schematic illustrations of different configurations of the crimped metal reinforcing member forming part of the structure illustrated in FIGS. 2-4.

Referring now to the drawing, and particularly to FIGS. 2-4 it will be seen that an elongated body 1 which is preferably flat and strip-shaped and may be formed of polyvinyl chloride, has a pair of opposite main faces 2 and 2'.

Substantially embedded in elongated body 1 will be found a crimped, strip-shaped reinforcing member 4 having opposite main faces 3 and 3 which extend substan tially perpendicular to the opposite main faces 2 and 2' of strip-shaped body 1.

The flat, strip-shaped reinforcing member 4 may be formed of spring steel, but preferably of the alloy used for music wires, the present invention, however, not being limited to any specific composition of either the elongated body 1 or the strip-shaped reinforcing member 4.

The strip-shaped body 1 also has a pair of side faces and 5' which, in the illustrated embodiment, extend substantially perpendicular to and connect the pair of opposite main faces 2 and 2. It can be seen that the stripshaped reinforcing member 4 is arranged substantially symmetrically relative to the side faces 5 and 5 of the strip-shaped body 1.

Preferably, the material forming reinforcing member 4 will have a greater specific resistance to bending than the material of elongated body 1.

The crimping of reinforcing member 4- may give to the same the undulating configuration shown in FIG. 5, or the rectangular, meandering shape shown in FIG. 6. However, the crimping of the strip-shaped reinforcing member 4 may also be carried out so as to give to the same other configurations, for instance the zigzag configuration shown in FIG. 7, or the semi-rhomboidal shape illustrated in FIG. 8. Certain configurations of thecrimped stripshape reinforcing member 4 are thus shown schematically in FIGS. 5-8 by way of example only without, however, limiting the invention to the illustrated configurations.

Very good results are achieved with a strip-shaped, crimped reinforcing wire made of the alloy composition used for music wire and having cross sectional dimensions of 0.013" x 0.040".

The crimped reinforcing member may be embedded in synthetic plastic material made of a product commercially available under the trade name Vinyl Plastisol which can be obtained so as to provide an end product with a wide range of durometer hardnesses.

Crimping of the wire may be carried out in many different conventional manners. It has been found particularly suitable to crimp the wire to an undulating shape by using a gear having a 12 diametral pitch, 12 teeth, 1" pitch diameter. The double amplitude of the crimping of undulations is approximately The wire may be crimped utilizing a jig in which one gear of the pair is rigidly mounted on a plate and the other gear is clamped to the plate so that the distance between the gear centers can be adjusted by hand at will. With this jig the gears could be turned by hand to perform the crimping operation.

In production on a commercial scale, it will be necessary to drive both gears in order to avoid formation of an unsymmetric zig-zag.

The transverse stitfness, i.e., the stiffness in bending the stay toward and away from the body when the stay is incorporated in a garment in the manner described above, is about the same as that found in conventional spiral stays. The lateral stiffness will depend on the hardness of the plastic, such as the polyvinyl chloride strip in which the crimped reinforcing member is embedded. The transverse stitfness is sensitive to the depth of the crimping and this depth should be as small as feasible. Within the range of preferred embodiment the thickness of the metal reinforcing strip may be increased from 0.013" to 0.015". Stainless steel is excellently suitable for forming the crimped reinforcing member, however, it is more expensive than music wire material.

Preferably, the cross section of the vinyl body should be slightly elliptical, about in the center, and about 0.040 at the edges. The increased thickness of the center portion serves to assure a better hiding of the embedded wire.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of stays differeing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a stay for incorporation in a foundation garment or the like, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can 'by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A stay, comprising, in combination, an elongated stay body of plastic material having a generally rectangular cross-section; and a crimped reinforcing member of substantially rectangular cross-section embedded in and extending in the direction of elongation of said elongated stay body, the major dimensions of said cross-sections of said stay body and said embedded reinforcing member being equal, respectively, to several times the minor dimensions thereof, and the major dimensions of the crosssections of said stay body and said embedded reinforcing body being perpendicular relative to each other, said embedded reinforcing member being crimped in a direction transverse to said major dimension of said stay body.

2. A stay as defined in claim 1, wherein said stay body consists of flexible material.

3. A stay, as defined in claim 2, wherein said stay body has a pair of side faces extending substantially perpendicular to and connecting said pair of opposite main faces thereof, and wherein said reinforcing member is arranged substantially symmetrically relative to said side faces of said stay body.

4. A stay, as defined in claim 2, wherein said reinforcing member consists of a material having a greater specific resistance to bending than said material of said elongated body.

5. A stay, as defined in claim 2, wherein said reinforcing member consists of metal.

6. A stay, as defined in claim 2, wherein said crimped reinforcing member is zigzag-shaped.

7. A stay, as defined in claim 2, wherein said crimped reinforcing member is of sinusoidal configuration.

8. A stay, as defined in claim 2, wherein said crimped reinforcing member is of undulating configuration.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 159,595 2/1875 McGill 2-261 388,936 9/1888 Wheeler et a1 2260.1 1,038,828 9/1912 Beeman 2.-259 2,710,967 6/1955 Boham 2260.1 3,032,775 5/1962 Robitaille et a1 2-260 X 3,101,483 8/1963 Boser et al. 2260 FOREIGN PATENTS 542,815 5/ 1922 France.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

ALFRED R. GUEST, Assistant Examiner. 

